Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Report on the Socialist Party of Central Virginia - Summer 2010

By Brandon Collins

The Socialist Party of Central Virginia continues to work for justice and socialism in Virginia! May Day 2010 was a success. Attendance at our workshop was healthy; we had many inquisitive folks participate, offer radical perspectives, and we gained some new interest in our local from folks around the commonwealth. The parade itself was quite inspiring; about 300 radicals, leftists, anarchists, socialists, and activists took to the streets with huge puppets and great energy. SP-CVA met a lot of new folks, and, in the process, continued to build our relationship with the Richmond IWW. Video of our workshop and the speeches can be found on our blog, under the post "May Day 2010."

Moving forward from May Day, we endorsed and participated in "Brown Bag Vigils" in Charlottesville at Rep. Perriello's office, demanding an end to funding the Afghan War. As we began to re-evaluate directions for our local, a solid campaign to keep WTJU in the capable hands of radio announcers got underway. Ultimately victorious, we began to strengthen our relationship with the Richmond IWW (see "Save WTJU, Keep it Weird!").

As we move forward into fall we are determining where our focus should be. This is a time to analyze and build our local. So far, we have agreed to focus on bringing labor activism to parts of Virginia where worker's movements don't exist and work to bring a radical perspective to those places where there is already healthy labor organizing. We will be strengthening and continuing our anti-war work in various ways, but really need to discuss what types of action will best bring a socialist perspective to anti-war organizing. It is our hope to become involved in stopping the assault on immigrant rights in Virginia. Again, more analysis and thought needs to be done on this in the coming months, but rest assured we will be there in solidarity with our undocumented sisters and brothers. In all of these things, members of our local overwhelmingly feel more direct action is needed. Join us as we move forward through the fall and into winter in coming up with creative ways to actively assert a socialist perspective in Virginia.

We've planned a workshop, "Roads to Democratic Socialism," in Charlottesville Sept. 26; a screening of Rethinking Afghanistan and anti-war discussion in Richmond late October/early fall; the launching of workers' organizing websites for Tidewater and Charlottesville; and participation in IWW organizer training in November. Stay posted on these events and more by visiting our website and Facebook page. As always, we invite you to participate and organize with us for a democratic socialist future!